To Be One of Them
by avenger139
Summary: When the Crystal Gems go to the Kindergarten because of a hunch Garnet had, they discover a gem that had been incubating since their last encounter with Peridot in the Kindergarten. The new gem, a boy named Black Jasper, knows nothing about his purpose and is yet to become a threat. The four gems decide that it'd be best to train him to be one of them.
1. Kindergarten Creation

Author's Note: Okay, so this is a new story. I've made the decision to do this because my original gemsona used a non-existent gemstone, and I didn't understand the history of Homeworld and all the other gems. But now that I do, I'm starting this story as a way to show that I do know about the assets of the fandom. The gem I will now be using is Black Jasper. The gem is still a boy, but with a different history from Scar. Black Jasper is going to be an Earth-born gem. So, without further ado, I bring you Kindergarten Creation!

* * *

~Amethyst's P.O.V~

"Pearl, are you sure that Peridot was here?" I heard Steven ask as we entered the Kindergarten. Garnet looked over her shoulder at him, showing no emotion underneath her glasses and neutral expression. Classic Garnet. "Trust us Steven," she said in her calm yet intimidating voice as we walked quietly in the direction of y hole. "I saw her with my future vision. She was doing something with one of the Injectors, but I don't know for sure what-" "I think I do," I heard Pearl say in a terrified whisper. "Look!" And then she pointed to my hole, or next to it. Steven and I gasped at what we saw; another hole right next to mine. I didn't have any neighbors when I was first made, which would mean Peridot had made another gem. "Pan out and find her everyone!" Garnet yelled as she summoned her weapon.

I summoned my whip, climbing over the rock in front of me and running towards the hole. I looked around it, checking to see if she had left any footprints. After noticing she had, I stepped into the hole just to check for remnants. It didn't have marks from when she was finished incubating; she must have been here for months. I stepped out of the hole. "You guys, I found her trail!" I yelled at the other Crystal Gems. "Follow me!" I began to follow the trail, my pale purple hair flowing behind me as I ran alongside the footprints. "Way to go Amethyst!" I heard Steven yell as he began to follow, the other gems behind him. The footprints lead us around one of the Kindergarten walls, underneath a toppled Injector, past the control room, and finally stopping in front of another wall. Looking up, we saw a pair of legs dangling out of another hole.

"Earth-born gem!" Steven said, pointing up at her. But when she looked out of the hole, we all gasped. The she was actually a he! He had charcoal skin and long black hair like mine, plus had some abnormally large raven eyes. He wore a black and silver suit, a yellow diamond printed onto the suit's dark grey belt. "Oh, hi there!" he said, waving at us. "My name's Black Jasper. "Are you here to give me a purpose here on Earth?" he asked. We all looked at one another. Garnet was quick to bring us all into a group huddle. "He doesn't know why he was created yet," she said in a concerned way. "But we can't be careless. i say we poof and bubble him. Who's with me?" Steven and I shook our heads. But Pearl was determined. She quickly showed a false smile and shoved us away, walking toward the hole. "Um, yes!"she yelled. "Now come down here, and we'll begin training you." And then she put out her arms.

He gave her a suspicious look, as if he knew what she was planning. But the look quickly faded. "Okay!" he said with joy as he jumped into her arms, before she summoned her weapon and poofed him. "His gem is so different from Jasper's!" Pearl said as she held his gem in between her fingers. "Hers was triangular with three colors in; this gem is an oval like mine, with a pale grey in the center that darkens at the edges. He must not be as dangerous as we thought." She then gave the gem to Steven. "But why leave him here then?" Steven asked as he examined the small circular stone. "Surely she would have taken him if he weren't a danger to her, right?" Garnet shook her head. "He wasn't going to be strong enough." she claimed as she took Black Jasper in her hands. "But she'll want to take him once he's been trained to be a proper warrior. We must make sure Peridot doesn't get to see him again once that day comes. But he will be trained to be one of us. Deal?" We all nodded before she gave the gem back to Steven, who put it into his pocket.

"Deal," we all said at once before heading back to the warp pad. I looked at Garnet, who didn't look like she had anything on her mind. "So, who will he stay with?" I asked as we passed my sitting rock, climbing rock, and rock that I'd kicked into two rocks(good times, I guess). Garnet glanced at me, then Pearl, then Steven. "He'll stay with Steven," she answered casually. "The two are both boys after all. They'd probably share common interests." Pearl shuddered. "But why would Black Jasper possibly be a boy? Us gems are always-" Steven let out an "Ahem", cutting her off. "Almost always girls," he corrected. "And maybe that's just the physical form he decided on." Garnet gave a nod just as we reached the warp pad. But before we could step onto it, we were all blasted away by a laser from above us. Looking up, I saw what the blast came from, and groaned.

"You Crystal Clods!" Peridot yelled down at us. "Give me that gem!" We all summoned our weapons, and I ran toward an Injector that served as I ramp up to her. I bolted up the side of the old gem machine, stepping onto the gem and jumping off, landing behind Peridot. Before she could react, I wrapped her legs up in my whip, yanking it so she would fall. That backfired when she shot me with her laser, causing me to go flying backwards. She began to fly off, but not to well since her legs were tied together. Pearl threw her spear at Peridot, hitting her on the head and sending her falling back down. She hit the ground in front of Steven, and managed to scramble away. Pearl, Steven, and I quickly regrouped, keeping our ground. Just as Garnet came flying towards her, Peridot encased her in a time-freezing bubble, throwing her at the rest of us before flying off again. "You won't win next time!" she yelled down at us as she flew over the cliff. "Black Jasper will be mine!" We all rushed back to the warp pad and went back to the Temple, now more determined than ever to keep Black Jasper safe with us.


	2. First Time in the Temple

~Steven's P.O.V~

"Steven, what are you doing with the gem?" I heard Amethyst ask, looking over my shoulder. We'd made it back to the temple a couple of hours ago, and it was already 5:30. Since we'd gone on the mission at seven in the morning, it'd been 11 hours and 30 minutes, but he still wasn't back yet. I slightly fluffed the pillow I'd put the precious stone on before setting it on the edge of my bed, and turned to face her. "I want the gem to be comfy, just in case he can feel anything from the outside world in there," I replied. "After all, he is a couple years younger than me, right? He's probably terrified in there. So, he should feel comfy. Get what I'm saying?" Amethyst shrugged. "Nope," she replied as she walked down the staircase from my room and into the kitchen. "And Steven," she continued as she reached up and grabbed a big bag of chips from the cupboard, "we can't feel anything from the outside world when we retreat into our gems."

I nodded, but left Black Jasper's gem on the pillow anyway. "So, what do you want to do while we wait?" I asked Amethyst. "Oh, how about we watch some Crying Breakfast Friends?" Amethyst shook her head. "I'm going to go rearrange some stuff in my room," she replied casually. We both stared at each other before we both burst into laughter. "Yeah right!" I exclaimed. She ran back up the stairs and sat down next to me on the circular carpet that sat in front of the TV. The new episode depicted a new breakfast friend, a burnt piece of toast. At first, he was depicted as 'not being a good egg' by Pear, Spoon, Waffle, and Bacon, but was later accepted. "Hey, that's just like us and Black Jasper!" Amethyst yelled at the TV. We looked at his gem, before Garnet and Pearl warped into the temple. "No luck on finding Peridot yet," Pearl said glumly as she and Garnet stepped off the warp pad. "Has Black Jasper reformed yet?" Amethyst and I shook our heads, but then his gem began to float.

"Everyone stand back," she said to us. Amethyst and I ran down that stairs and stood behind them. Black Jasper's gem was first seen, then his silhouette and long hair. And then he slowly landed down in the middle of my bed, completely reformed. It was then I realized his gem was on the back of his neck. He turned to face us, and fear shown in his eyes before he jumped off my bed and onto the couch, running to the warp pad. "Please don't poof me again!" he screamed as he stepped onto it. I ran after him, and completely got onto the warp pad just as he activated it. We warped into(or rather, onto) the washing room, where he ran off again. He was a lot more fearless than me; he ran down the temple's closest arm and continued down the rest of them until he reached the beach, then ran toward the boardwalk. I warped back into the temple, then ran outside.

"C'mon you guys, we have to catch him!" I yelled behind me as I ran down the stairs and across the beach after him. When he realized we were behind him, he sped up his pace, running inside the Big Donut. When I walked in, Sadie and Lars ere just doing their normal thing, but Black Jasper wasn't anywhere to be found. "Um, did you guys see a charcoal colored gem? With long black hair, and raven eyes?" Lars and Sadie looked at one another before nervously looking back at me. "No, haven't seen 'em," Lars and Sadie said together. The two shared a second glance before leaned over the counter towards me. "But why do you want to know anyway?" Lars asked, irritation dripping from his voice. "Do you and the gems have something against him?" Sadie angrily elbowed him, looking away. I shook my head. "No, I just...have to make things right with him," I replied sadly. "We misjudged him when we first met on a mission we went on earlier today. And we poofed him when we weren't supposed to. I just wanted him to know that me and the other gems wanted to apologize, that's all."

Sadie looked towards the Employee's Only door, then at Lars, who nodded. She walked around to the door, then came back moments later, hand in hand with Black Jasper. He had tears in his eyes, like he'd just been crying. "He had run inside frantic and told us you were chasing him," Sadie told me. "I just thought the two of you had been playing hide and seek. So we told him to go back there and wait for us to go get him after you'd left." She lead him around the counter, then put his hand in mine. "You tell the gems that he gets extremely scared around new things, okay?" Sadie yelled behind me as we exited the donut shop. When I had closed the door, I looked at one of the tables set up nearby. The rest of the Crystal Gems were there, waiting for us. "Oh, there he is!" Pearl yelled as they all got up and ran over. She frowned, her eyebrows knitting in thought. "But why is he crying?" she asked. I looked up at her. "He was scared of us," I answered. "He thought we were going to poof him again, remember?" Garnet nodded before scooping Black Jasper up in her arms.

* * *

~Pearl's P.O.V~

There's never been a quieter time with all the Crystal Gems in the same place other than the walk back to the temple. Black Jasper had gone quiet after a bit of sobbing into Garnet's right shoulder; surprisingly, neither Ruby nor Sapphire showed any disgust towards this. When we finally got to the stairs, Steve and Amethyst ran up them two at a time. "Guys, we're going to set up a spot for him," Amethyst said, a smile spreading across her face. "So, just set him on the couch for now." Garnet carried him inside, plopping down onto the sofa and putting Black Jasper next to her. He looked up at her before staring down at his silver boots. "I'm sorry I ran away," he mumbled. Garnet put her gigantic hand on his slender shoulder. "It's okay," she replied. "You didn't know what we'd do yet." She brushed the hair out of his eyes, and dried away his tears. 'Looks like Sapphire has control,' I thought to myself as I looked at Amethyst and Steven's progress. The two had done a good job on where he'd sleep; they must have pulled one of Greg's mattresses from Amethyst's room while I wasn't looking.

When Garnet picked him up around the waist, he just looked at me nervously before looking back at Garnet. She carried him up to Steven's room and put him down on the mattress, where he began to run his fingers through his hair, almost combing it. When he realized I was looking at him, he began to turn a shade of black cherry. Turning a shade of sky blue, I turned back to Garnet. "So, Black Jasper will be okay with Steven?" I asked. She nodded, showing a slight smile before heading to her room. "Those two'll be peas in a pod in no time," Amethyst said as she exited Steven's room to go to her own. Black Jasper gave me a small wave before I too walked to my room. I returned the wave just as the door to my room closed.

* * *

~Black Jasper's P.O.V~

"So, you're really a half-gem?" I asked Steven after he turned off the TV. He nodded. "My mom was Rose Quartz, but my dad was a human," he explained. "I'm actually the first ever half gem, and probably the last." I shrugged. "Maybe, but you never know," I replied. We'd just finished watching a three hour special of Crying Breakfast Friends, a TV show Steven always watches. I really didn't understand it; they all cried over absolutely nothing! "So, what's it like to be the first full gem that's also a boy?" Steven asked me. I glanced toward the temple door, then back at him. "It's pretty normal, I guess," I answered with a shrug. "I don't feel any different from another gem, I've never exactly had a form before this one." I put my head down onto the mattress they gave me and bundled myself up in blankets. "I think we should get some rest," I murmured. I heard hi let out a groan before he climbed into bed. "You know Steven," I said, "I do't know what would've happened if you and the gems hadn't found me in the Kindergarten. But I' glad you did." And before I knew it, I was asleep.


	3. Meeting Connie

~Black Jasper's P.O.V~

When my eyes opened, light had flooded over the house and left me blind for a moment. When my eyes adjusted to the brightness, I Realized that Steven wasn't in his bed. When I got up and looked at his TV, there was a note. ' _Gone on a mission with the gems_ ', it read. ' _We'll be back in time for lunch, at the latest._ ' I jumped down onto the couch, prepared for a day of walking around the boardwalk. As I opened the door, I thought about everything I'd try to do. There was a lot to do, so I wouldn't get bored if I met any new people. I stepped outside the house, leaping over the railing and off the steps before running across the sand to the boardwalk. Passing by the fallen arms of the temple, I sped up my pace, before slowing to a walk near a girl on the boardwalk in front of the Big Donut. She had brown skin and waist-length dark brown puffy hair, but that was all I could see of her as her back was to me. "Hmm," I heard her say to herself. " No one's seen Steven all morning. And, they haven't seen the gems either. Did he go on a mission without telling me?"

She was awfully distracted, and from the looks of things she hadn't even noticed me. If I decided to talk to her, it'd be my third sense of human interaction. She had mentioned Steven; maybe they were friends. I pondered on what I'd even say to her if I actually talked to her. 'Oh hi, I'm Black Jasper, a gem made here on Earth! Did you know Steven is a gem too?' I shook my head, my hair covering my eyes. Walking up to anyone and saying _that_ would probably make them think I was crazy. Although, she looked like the kind of person he'd tell things like that... I took a few steps toward her, quietly observing her body language to make sure she wouldn't swing at me if she hadn't heard me before.

"Um, excuse me," I called. "Are you looking for Steven?" She turned to look at me, before jumping back. "Y-you're a gem!" she yelled at me. "But there aren't supposed to be Homeworld Gems here!" Her face became grave as she began to glare at me. "What have you done to Steven? And the other gems?" I took a step back, putting my hands in front of me defensively. "They're on a mission," I replied. "And I was born in a Kindergarten, not Homeworld. I'm Black Jasper. What's your name?" She appeared to let out a relieved sigh, then stepped toward me. "I'm Connie," she replied. "Are you a Crystal Gem too?" I shrugged my shoulders, indicating I wasn't entirely sure before grabbing her arm and taking her back to the temple. "I want to know everything about you," I said. "And while we're at it, I'll tell you about me." Stepping up the stairs, I held the door for her, and followed her into the living room. When we were both seated, she started talking about how she met Steven. I knew I'd have to get comfortable; this was going to last for a long time!

* * *

"So, you were born in the Kindergarten just like Amethyst?"

"Yes, in a hole right next to hers."

We'd been going back and forth like this for hours. Surprisingly, it was already 9:45 and the Gems hadn't returned. I was beginning to worry. "So, do you know what your purpose is?" she asked me. I shook my head. "I asked the Gems when I first met them, but they didn't exactly give me an answer. I guess they won't tell me because I'm so young." She smiled down at me."They'll tell you someday," she responded."I'm sure of it." I smiled back at her before I saw the warp pad light up. "Yay!" I exclaimed, jumping up and down on the couch. "They're back!" I grabbed Connie's arm, then she and I ran over to greet the four gems. "Welcome back!" I yelled with excitement as I hugged Garnet's leg. "Hello Black Jasper," she said with a small smile. "How'd your day go?" I explained my entire day to them, then Connie explained _her_ day to them. After we were both done talking about everything we did, Steven grabbed my arm and Connie's arm and lead the both of us up to his room before letting out a small yawn. I scrambled into my sleeping bag, and in seconds I found that my eyes couldn't stay open any longer.


	4. Time to Train

~Black Jasper's P.O.V~

When I awoke the next day, I found that I wasn't in Steven's room in my sleeping bag anymore, but on the beach. Garnet was holding me, which cause my cheeks to flush due to her holding me like I was an infant. When she realized I was awake, she set me on the ground a few feet from Pearl, Steven, Amethyst, and Connie, who wore a light blue dress today that reached just below her knees. "Good mornin'!" Amethyst yelled as she waved. I waved back, a sideways smile appearing on my face. "So, why exactly are we here?" I asked. Pearl stepped forward. "We're going to train you to be a gem!" she exclaimed. "I'll teach you how to sword fight, Amethyst will teach you how to change your form, Garnet can teach you about summoning your weapon, Connie and Steven can show you fusion-"

"Uh, what's fusion?" I questioned, cocking my head to the side. Connie and Steven looked at one another. "I guess we'll start with that then!" they said in unison before walking a few feet from the water and removing their shoes. The two began a random bit of dancing, almost copying one another's movements. Then Steven's gem began to glow, and their bodies turned to light. Then their two forms became joined, and began to stretch. This continued until their bodies became one body. I stared in awe at them, my mouth agape. They now had a build consisting of Connie's slim figure with Steven's chubby, stocky features, a dark-brown, curly hairstyle that reached her thighs, and a complexion slightly darker than Steven's. They bore Steven's usual reddish-pink star shirt layered under a cropped version of Connie's cyan-powder blue sleeveless dress, Steven's jeans which were now cutoff shorts, and bare feet.

"Black Jasper, it's an honor to meet you," they said as she bent down to my level. "I'm Stevonnie." They put their hand out, offering to shake hands with me. I looked back at the gems before putting my hand in theirs and nervously moved my hand up and down. "I-it's nice to m-meet you," I said shyly. They laughed before unfusing, standing side by side. "So, that's fusion?" I asked. "Take a similar being to yourself, sync your dancing and become one single being? Gee, that seems kind of hard. Can I try fusing some other time when I'm more comfortable with it?" They all nodded before Pearl stepped toward me. "Let's start with something easier then," she said as she scooped up two seashells. She gave one to me before smiling. I took it, not knowing what to do with it. "I'm going to show you how to bubble things," she said. I nodded. "Okay. First, center the seashell in the middle of your palm." I nodded, doing exactly as she asked. "Now push down on it, and think about it being encased inside a bubble!" she said. I clapped my other hand gently onto the shell, and slowly moved my hand back. It had worked; a charcoal bubble now concealed the small shell. I smiled before popping it. "I did it!" I exclaimed, hopping up and down.

They all clapped before Garnet approached me. "There are many different ways to summon your weapon," she said to me. "Instead of just me showing you how to summon your weapon, we'll all show you." The other gems gave a nod, and they each summoned their weapons from their gems. Steven had a shield, Amethyst had a whip, Garnet had gauntlets, and Pearl had a spear. I rubbed my finger across my gem. "Okay," I said, "then how can you teach me about summoning my weapon?" They all looked at each other before Amethyst and Steven shrugged. My eyes widened at them. "Then why mention it?!" I yelled before hopping up and down angrily, causing them to nervously back away from me. "I. Want. To. Summon. My. WEAPON!" And then I felt my gem glowing, and a staff began to come out of it. I pulled it out and spun it around over my head and planted it in the ground before me like a flag. "I did it!" I said. "I summon my weapon with an extreme amount of energy!" I pulled it out of the ground and laughed before it disappeared.

"That's so easy for me to do! This is going to be so awesome!" Amethyst laughed before stepping up to me. "Okay, now onto the fun part!" she yelled out loud before turning into a purple cat. Steven's eye went wide as he looked back at the temple. "Lion!" he screamed before running up the beach. I stared at him, wondering why he'd yelled out the name of a big cat and running toward the house before turning back to Amethyst. "Ok," I said, "how can I change my form?" She changed back into her true form. "It's easy," she replied. "Just think of what you want to be, and then just...shake it out." She shook her arms and legs before becoming a purple sandwich. I stared at her dumbly before I felt a tap on my shoulder and breathing down my neck. I expected to see Steven; what I saw instead was a large pink lion. I let out a rather feminine shriek and jumped back before tripping and falling backwards into the sand.

"Sorry!" Steven yelled as he jumped off the large creature and helped me up. "This is Lion; we think he has something to do with my mother, Rose Quartz." I smiled nervously. "Th-that would explain why he's p-p-pink," I stuttered. Amethyst laughed. "Dude, chill," she said. "He won't bite unless you make him. Go on and pet him, you'll be fine." I hesitantly put out my hand, covering my eyes as it found his mane. When he didn't react to my touch, I uncovered my eyes. "Wow," I mumbled as I rubbed my fingers through Lion's mane. "He actually has really soft hair. And he looks kind of like bubblegum!" We all shared a laugh before I looked at Pearl. "So, about swordfighting..." I said. She smiled, her gem glowing before a hologram of herself appeared before me, a sword in its hand. With her own sword(which I didn't even realize she'd had), Pearl disconnected the hologram from her gem.

"Do you wish to engage in combat?" she asked. I looked at the blue hologram of the gem before summoning my weapon. "Yes," I said. "But go easy on me," I whispered. Pearl cleared her throat before standing behind her false self. "Initiate training mode," she said to her before walking away to stand with the other gems. The hologram assumed its position, and I copied. "Training mode activated; level one, begin!" she shouted. I readied my weapon as the hologram swung her sword at my head. "Parry! Parry!" she yelled, swinging the blade around and cutting off the tips of my hair. I jumped back just as it shoved its sword at my chest. "Thrust!" I swung my staff at her stomach, but the hologram parried, knocking me off balance. "Parry!" she said again, her sword mere inches from my nose before she repeated the move. "Parry!" I slid in the sand, avoiding the attack with ease before swinging my staff at her legs and knocking her to the ground.

I stood above her and swung my staff down, impaling the hologram in the sand. "Beginner mode defeated," she said. "Do you wish to battle again?" I looked at my audience, who were all clapping quietly. I smiled before letting my weapon disappear and looking at the sky above. The sun was in the middle of the sky already. Yet, I didn't even realize so much time had passed. Connie glanced up before frowning. "Wow, time sure flies when training a gem," she said. "I gotta get home, my mom's probably expecting me. Bye everyone!" We all waved as she walked across the beach. I looked at Lion, then at Steven, then the Crystal Gems. "So, now what?" I asked. They all showed a smile before Amethyst grabbed me and ran to the temple. "Now, we can go on missions together!" she yelled. "We can start by going on one as a full team, then you can go with a single partner and eventually go alone. This is going to be great!"


	5. Gem Beasts

A.N: This story is before Peridot truces with the gems. My next chapter will start at the end of Too Far. In this story, Black Jasper is poofed during a battle against gem mutants.

* * *

~Pearl's P.O.V~

We all sat lazily on the couch in Steven's room, debating on the kind of missions Black Jasper was allowed to go on. While we did this, he was outside, testing his weapon, the caduceus, out on holograms I had left in training mode. "He's a very good solo fighter," I said, looking out the window at him as he jumped over a hologram and swung down at it, cutting it in two. "But he'll still never be able to work against gem beasts without a proper partner. We'll need to be with him until he can finally do missions on his own." I looked out the window again, and noticed Black Jasper slice off the legs of another of my hologram Pearls. I felt sweat roll down my forehead as he began slowly cutting into it, chopping at its stomach until it disappeared. 'What was that?' I inwardly pondered. 'Is that something he might do to us someday?' I shook it off, my pale orange hair sticking up. I quickly fixed it just as Steven opened the door and let Black Jasper inside. "I'm back!" Black Jasper said happily. "And I defeated all the training Pearls. Now what?" Garnet stood. "Now," she said, "we go on a mission."

* * *

~Black Jasper's P.O.V~

"A mission?" I questioned. "What do we do on missions?" Amethyst off the couch, summoning her whip. "We battle monsters!" she yelled, slicing at me. I blocked it with my arm, the whip wrapping tightly around my wrist. "Don't do that," I snapped as it disappeared. I turned, blowing my bangs out of my eyes and staring up at Garnet. "So, what are we fighting?" I asked her.

"I don't know yet," she replied. "But I do know that whatever it is, it's in the Kindergarten." We all walked to the warp pad, but before we stepped on it, Steven stopped me. "I have a question," Steven said to me. "How'd you activate the warp pad your first day here?" I shrugged. "I just stepped on it and it took me to th templ's gigantic hand, that's all," I replied. He nodded and we all stepped onto the warp pad. After he activated it, we were teleported into my old home. I looked around the area, staring at one of the machines that had fallen over and was covering the hole I was made in.

I slid down the hill, skidding to a stop at the bottom before summoning my weapon. I looked around quickly, scanning the area for any signs of suspicious activity. After seeing none, I slowly began to walk between the large cliff faces in hopes of being useful to the Gems. I checked behind rocks and between walls, but still hadn't seen anything. And then I heard a sound.

It sounded like a shrill scream, and it was so close I thought it was behind me before I realized it was above me. When I looked up, I felt my heart almost stop. What I saw was the most vile creature I'd ever seen. It appeared to be a spider, but its front legs were arms that started from the elbow, it's back legs were large feet that were connected from the ankles, and its middle four legs were all bodies, each with it's own pair of arms. In the middle was a large head, with five gems stuck together to create a new form.

I barely had time to react as it jumped from its perch, landing on the ground in front of me. A mouth appeared on the head, letting out a vile screech as it began to bite at me. I swung my caduceus at it, whacking it off balance long enough for me to run. I ran between fallen rubble, hoping to lose the beast and find the other gems. But just as I reached a corner, it landed in front of me. I screamed just as one of its front legs whacked me into one of the drills, impaling me onto it. I stared in horror at the drill now lodged inside my stomach before I heard Steven's screams above me. The last thing I saw before I poofed were the gems, destroying my attacker and bubbling its gem.


	6. Regeneration

It's so quiet here, without everyone else. I'm silently floating around in a dark void, which just so happens to also be my gem. I'll never understand how in the world I let myself get poofed so easily, considering the circumstances.

I'd been impaled on a drill head, which is actually pretty ironic since I was also _made_ by a drill head. My stomach and my back hurt too; no doubt from where I'd been stabbed. I couldn't help but wonder when I'd finally be able to regenerate my body.

I really wanted to change the way my clothing looked. I wanted to look different from the way I looked when I was found in the Kindergarten, but I wanted to keep my long hair and the diamond on my outfit. I didn't know what the best way to revamp my look would be, but I knew I'd think of it sometime.

I sighed, running my fingers through my long hair so I have something to do while I'm here. It's not like my gem is on my body right now; I'm inside it, why would I have it? I can't summon my weapon, or fight, or do anything at the moment that would involve my gem. I didn't even get to learn how to fuse while I was still concrete.

I let my mind cloud, only thinking about letting my wounds heal. I could feel the large areas where I'd been cut slowly begin to close, like they were being brought together on their own. Then, I coughed, and I found myself blasting across the void. When I looked down, I realized that the wounds had reopened. 'This is going to take a while,' I thought as I began to try for the second time.

* * *

What feels like years have passed, and I still haven't managed to close the gap in my torso. I've tried dozens of times, yet I just can't seem to get it right. I know that I need to try one last time. I close my eyes, and let all my strength flow throughout my body, and I feel my hair flow out behind me. I focus, not letting myself get distracted, as this could be my very last shot to get it right.

My body began to feel lighter. I felt my body closing again, only faster than before. And then I feel a pulse of energy flow through me, sending me flying through my gem once more. When I opened my eyes again, I noticed that my stomach no longer bore the damage from the drill. My back no longer hurt, and I knew at that moment I was ready to try to reform. I already knew exactly what I wanted to wear now, which I knew would help me complete my reformation.

I focused, allowing my being to flood into my brain so I could focus all that I had into remaking myself. My hair began to flow above my head, spreading out until it was all standing up. I closed my eyes, and felt my body turn lighter until I could no longer feel my presence at all. "Heee's coomiing baaaccck!" I heard Steven yell, his speech slurred from my lack of being.

I opened my eyes, my feet touching the ground as I pushed my bangs from my line of vision and smiled widely at the gems. "You're back!" Steven yelled as he ran over, hugging me tightly.

"And you've changed," Amethyst said to me. "I like the new look. Even if you look like a giant **nerd**."

I looked down at my new outfit. I now wore a pair of raven colored jeans, a button-down shirt the color of ink, and a midnight sweater vest with multiple shades of yellow diamonds running across the chest. I changed my shoes to match a pair of Connie's sneakers, only changing their color so they'd be ebony. I guess I did kind of look preppy, but nerd had gone too far.

"Whatever," I replied, whipping my hair in her face. "It doesn't matter what I look like, it only matters if I can move in it. And I already know that this would set me apart from Homeworld Gems. Well, more or less..."

"Moving on," Steven said as he grabbed my wrist. "We have something to show you."  
I stared at them questioningly as they lead me to the bathroom underneath Steven's room. When they opened the door, I felt anger fill my eyes and all the color drain from my face.


	7. Green and Black is a Really Ugly Combo

I was staring at Peridot. The gem who made me, poofed me, and abandoned me. I glared at her in anger, and before i'd even realized it, my caduceus was in my hand and I'd lunged at her, attempting to jab her in the stomach. She ran from me, bolting past the gems and back into the living room. Right before I could get through the bathroom door and go after her, Garnet blocked my path. "Peridot has a reason to be here," she said as she crossed her arms. I crossed my arms as well, squinting my eyes at her.

"And what reason is that?" I yelled. "To one night just take me and never bring me back?! Peridot made me as a weapon! She was going to train me to _destroy_ you! I wasn't supposed to be so small; I was supposed to be a gem warrior and exterminate you! And Peridot had the job of making sure I carried out my mission!" The gems all stared at me in shock. I took in a deep breath, and went under Garnet's arm and into the living room. Peridot was hiding under Steven's covers, fear filling her eyes as she noticed my presence. "You're weak, aren't you?" I asked. She uncovered herself, revealing her new height-or, lack there of. She was shorter than me. "You'll never be any more than a pest to me, and I could kill you right now. You're lucky the gems won't allow me to."

I ran over to the warp pad, activating it and going to the strawberry fields that Steven had told me about. I sat down on a large stone, and began to braid my hair. I did one single, large braid, which went from the top of my scalp and took every lock of my hair. When I was done, I look a long braid of grass and tied it. I stood up, letting a large butterfly land on the back of my hand. I stared at it, admiring it's curling pink wings. When it flew off, I followed it until it finally was out of reach. I looked around. I had no idea where I was. I looked around, hoping to see some sort of landmark or something. Seeing nothing, I grabbed a wild strawberry and kicked it over some brush.

When I heard Steven yell out, I went in the direction of my kick, slicing through the underbrush with my caduceus. When I finally found Steven, he was screaming about the two butterflies that had landed on his eyes. I laughed, grabbing him by the back of his shirt and shooing the butterflies away. "Steven," I said, "calm down. They were just butterflies." He looked at me, and pointed to his clothes. He was covered from head to toe in strawberry bits and juice. "Sorry," I said with a shrug. "I'm ready to go to the temple now." We stepped onto the warp pad, and I allowed him to activate it. When we got back to the temple, the other gems were waiting for us. "We need to talk," Pearl said. "You need to know why Peridot's here. We should've told you sooner, but you weren't listening." I crossed my arms, turning my head away.

"Unless it's a life or death situation, I don't wanna hear it." I mumbled. Amethyst grabbed my wrist, pulling me to the couch. I hesitantly sat down, and let the gems tell me what was going on.

* * *

"Wow, that's a lot to take in," I groaned when they were finished. "I cannot believe that the monster that attacked me wasn't the last one I'll have to see. And you've almost finished the drill?" Pearl gave a nod. "But, with Steven's birthday coming up soon, we'l have to hold off on going to the Earth's core to destroy the large cluster." I shook my head. "Okay, so I've heard _that_ now. But what's next? Will I be able to assist you in getting rid of that stupid cluster, or will you make me stay here? I need to know more about this."

Steven pointed outside to a barn. "Follow us," he said as he and the gems stepped outside and began running toward it. I stared at Peridot, who was sitting on the kitchen counter. "C'mon," I said. "I won't hurt you, I promise." She hesitantly walked toward me, and together we ran down the beach and to the barn along with the Crystal Gems.


	8. In the Later Months

Before I get into this chapter, I want you to know that some of this chapter will be (from) Black Jasper's journal. So things will sometimes be crossed out and there will be the occasional line of notes from him. Also, I'll skip ahead a few months, so we'll start at the end of Season 3, Episode 5. Anyway, here you go!

* * *

It's been months since I first got this journal from Steven. And unfortunately, a lot has happened that I haven't been able to write down before. The cluster has already been bubbled(not sure how the heck _that_ happened), Peridot has made friends with everyone, I met Ruby and Sapphire, the two halves of Garnet, and now there's this 'new' gem named Lapiz Lazuli. Plus, I decided I wanted to see more of Earth, even if it means I'll be way from the gems for a while. Luckily, I learned a thing or two about shape shifting from Amethyst. Now, I can turn into things like birds. To bad I don't know how to fly properly...Anyway, I've been studying birds to find out what they do to stay in the air. And I've come to the conclusion...that I have no idea how the heck they do it. They could be secretly using some sort of magic and I wouldn't really understand it.

Right, kind of getting off topic here. I'll have to break it to the gems that I want to travel, but I don't know how they'll react. What if they think it's a bad idea or something? They might not let me leave...

* * *

~Black Jasper's POV~

"Stupid book..." I muttered as I opened the journal back up, staring at what I'd written. Honestly, I wondered if having the journal was really a good idea. I mean, sure, I could use it to cope with what's going on these days, but would it really help if one of the gems actually read it? "Forget it..." I muttered as I rolled it up and placed it neatly inside the hiding place I'd carved out of a can full of dried paint. _'Perfect...'_ I thought to myself as I closed it up and put it with the rest of the paint cans before stepping out of the barn and walking over to the gems, whom were all staring up at the sky. "Hey, what's new?" I asked, looking around.

"Oh, hey Jay," Amethyst said as she and the other gems turned to face me. "Well, we just sent a truck load of Rubies to Neptune, for starters." I blinked; Neptune is a planet that's pretty far from this one. So, I'm sure that they didn't throw the Rubies there, right?

"And, how did you do that?" I asked.

"They were looking for Jasper. The _real_ Jasper. Steven just told them she was on Neptune, and they totally fell for it!" Amethyst said with a grin.

"Jeez, Rubies are kinda stupid..." I muttered. "No offense Garnet."

"None taken," Garnet replied with a slight smile. "Anyway, I think you have something to tell us." Everyone looked at me, and I felt beads of sweat roll down my forehead. _'Shoot, you forgot about Garnet's future vision!'_ I heard a little voice scream in the back of my mind.

"Oh, right..." I said as I looked down at my feet, shuffling awkwardly. "You see, I want to...see more of the earth?" Everyone seemed to share an unsure glance. Well, other than Steven.

"You do?!" he exclaimed, a huge smile lighting up his face. "That's awesome! And, we think you should go for it. Right guys?" We looked up at them expectantly.

"Uh..." Pearl sighed, her hand placed on her chin in thought. After what seemed like an eternity, her blue eyes met mine and a frown crossed her features. "I'm sorry, I just don't think it'd be best for you to leave town. It'd be best if you just stayed where we could keep an eye on you."

"But..." I started, crossing my arms, "what about where we are _right now_? We left town to get here, remember?" Pearl shook her head and sighed, turning around so she wouldn't have to face me.

"It's already been decided," Garnet stated. "Oh, and before I forget," she said as she walked over to me, "we've all decided that you should live here, with Peridot and Lapiz."

"What?! But what happened to keeping an eye on me? You just expect to say that, and then leave me here?!"

"Peri can watch over you," Amethyst suggested.

"That's not the problem here! You said you needed to keep an eye on me, not Peridot. You can't just place that responsibility on her shoulders; it should be your job!"

"Calm down, you're getting way too mad over nothing," Steven said, putting his hands up defensively. "Maybe you should just accept it and-"

"Forget it, okay?!" I yelled, turning away from them. "I'll be in the barn." I heard Steven take a step towards me. "Don't bother..." I muttered angrily as I stomped over to my new 'home' and slammed the door behind me.

* * *

Sorry if you thought Black Jasper sounded kind of bratty, I just went through something like this and reacted the same way. Anyway, hope you enjoyed, and I'll be sure to start updating more often.


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